Sheriff candidates tussle on DHS and training

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Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Stanko and Detective Joe Nole, who's served as undersheriff and acting sheriff, offered a study in contrasts as candidates for sheriff at the June 24 Honesty Forum in Port Ludlow.

When asked if they saw any problems stemming from the legalization of marijuana, the only issue Nole reported was an increase in Driving Under the Influence arrests.

“Otherwise, it's no different than liquor stores,” said Nole, who's running as a Democrat. “You don't have drunk people hanging out there.”

Stanko, who's running as an independent, admitted he was “really surprised” to find there's been no increase in criminal activity since marijuana was legalized in Washington state, but he advocates educating young people about marijuana, the same way he believes they should be educated about alcohol.

When asked about the relationship between the sheriff's office and the Department of Homeland Security, Stanko welcomed the DHS grants dismissed the suggestion of a “controversy,” noting that the sheriff's office does not enforce immigration laws, but does aid in efforts against terrorism and human trafficking, arguing that the sheriff's office provides some of the only “eyes and ears” for spotting the latter two crimes in this area.

Nole took a big step away from his boss' stance, not only agreeing that the sheriff's office partnership was “controversial,” but even calling it “wrong” for the sheriff's office to have accepted money from DHS.

“I was a grant administrator for the sheriff's office for a number of years,” Nole said. “It bothered me that our information could be added to that of the DHS.”

To combat potential terrorist threats or human trafficking, Nole believes the sheriff's office can partner with groups such as the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, and asserted that “Our deputies are good enough to spot many of these crimes themselves.”

When asked to name their priorities, Nole took a shot at the incumbent administration for conducting “three studies in four years,” when to his mind, it's a law enforcement presence in communities that makes them safer.

“Rather than just taking calls over the phone, it helps to have a deputy stop by and meet with people, face to face,” said Nole, who criticized the sheriff's office for not completing its personnel's training on skills such as interviewing children and dealing with domestic violence calls.

Stanko acknowledged that training begun under his watch has remained incomplete, due to budget issues, but he also touted the sheriff's Citizens Advisory Committee as one of the promises he's kept.

Stanko and Nole also differed on mental health issues, with Stanko pointing to the work he's done with public health and state legislators, instituting limited mental health care in the Jefferson County Jail, since he doubts there's money for “a brick-and-mortar solution,” while Nole dismissed the deputies' training on mental health as out of date.

“A lot of the calls we go on are mental health-related,” Nole said. “There's a lot of people with mental health issues in jail, but that's not the place for them to go.”

When asked about how a sheriff should be judged, Nole said they should be judged on their budget priorities, their ability to analyze data to determine where certain crimes are committed, and their willingness to meet with the public.

Stanko went one further and deemed community involvement the “foremost” criterion by which sheriffs should be judged.

“I've allowed my staff to get out into the community,” Stanko said. “I've allowed my opponent to join Rotary and the mental health board. Archaic statistics like car stops matter less than community wellness. The Citizens Advisory Committee gets us idea from Kala Point, Cape George and all over.”

When asked about claims that he would leave before his next four-year term was done, Stanko flatly stated they were not true, while Nole said he'd serve “at least four years, and probably another term.”

When asked about a code enforcement officer for the county, Stanko noted that funding would be an issue, although he cited possible partnerships with public health and the Department of Community Development to work about that, while Nole suggested having the officer not be a deputy, so they wouldn't cost as much.

“I like the idea, though,” Nole said. “You might as well just send all the code enforcement questions to one place, since we're going to get them anyway.”